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USMD Hospitals Receive Women's Choice Award® For Patient Experience

USMD Holdings, Inc. ( NASDAQ: USMD), a physician-led integrated healthcare system, announced today that both of its hospitals, USMD Hospital at Arlington and USMD Hospital at Fort Worth, have received the 2014...

USMD Holdings, Inc. ( NASDAQ: USMD), a physician-led integrated healthcare system, announced today that both of its hospitals, USMD Hospital at Arlington and USMD Hospital at Fort Worth, have received the 2014 Women's Choice Award for being voted to the list of America's Best Hospitals for Patient Experience by women.

This distinction is the only award that identifies the country's best healthcare institutions based on robust criteria that consider female patient satisfaction and what women say they want from a hospital, including quality physician communications, responsiveness of nurses and support staff, cleanliness and trusted referrals from other women. Hospitals named as America's Best join an elite network of brands, across multiple industries, which carry the Women's Choice Award, symbolizing their commitment to women.

"USMD is honored that both of our hospitals received the Women's Choice Award for Patient Experience," said John House, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of USMD Holdings. "USMD prides itself on providing top-notch, compassionate care. It's great to see our team recognized for their outstanding work. This award is truly a result of our staff's dedication and commitment to ensure that patients continue to be our top priority."

Being named and recognized as a hospital of choice among women represents a strong and important consumer message in today's healthcare marketplace. According to American Academy of Family Physicians, women account for 90 percent of all healthcare decisions for herself and her family.

"We've identified America's Best Hospitals across our nation to help women make smart healthcare choices for themselves and their family members. Being treated with the proper level of care impacts one's health, well-being and healing, so it is critical for women to know those hospitals that have demonstrated the highest level of quality care to their patients, with a special focus on the female experience," says Delia Passi, CEO and founder of WomenCertified®, home to the Women's Choice Award, and former publisher of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines. "We're putting the power of choice in the woman's hands with the information to simplify her choice.

"A woman expects more from a hospital experience and takes her role as the primary healthcare decision maker seriously," Passi adds. "More than ever she is self-managing her care by choosing her hospital prior to choosing her doctors. This allows her more control over her hospital stay outcome based on the quality of care she can expect from a Women's Choice Award hospital."

"USMD hospitals foster a culture that places a tremendous emphasis on patient quality of care," said Karen Fiducia, president, USMD Hospital Management Services. "I would like to thank the entire staff at USMD Hospital at Arlington and USMD Hospital at Fort Worth for continually supporting USMD's mission of delivering world-class, cost-effective patient care and for making awards, like the Women's Choice Award, possible."

The America's 100 Best Hospitals scoring process is unique in that it is the only national list that focuses on female patient satisfaction. The process begins with scores derived for each hospital in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) database. The score takes a subset of the questions HCAHPS uses that research and experience shows are more important to women than to men. Weight is applied to each of those questions to adjust for relative importance to arrive at a numerical score. Additionally, scoring incorporates WomenCertified's in-depth research on customer satisfaction among women, including a joint study on customer satisfaction by gender conducted with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

The scoring is objective and uniform. The best 100 scores in each of the four size categories determine the America's 100 Best Hospitals for Outstanding Patient Experience award winners. The four size categories include hospitals with up to 100 beds, 101-250 beds, 251-400 beds, and 401-plus beds. WomenCertified accepts absolutely no payment in exchange for placement on the list.

"Recognizing the best hospitals nationwide that are women-friendly and align with women's identified preferences is important to our mission, where women help other women with tough, consumer decisions," Passi concludes. "Most importantly, when a woman sees the Women's Choice Award at her local hospital, she'll know the hospital values her experience as a critical component of her and her loved one's care."

About USMD Holdings, Inc.

USMD is a publicly held (NASDAQ: USMD), physician-led, integrated health system committed to exemplary patient care. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, USMD serves the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area with more than 250 physicians and associate practitioners, and provides healthcare services to patients in just under 20 different specialties at its two hospitals, six cancer treatment centers and nearly 70 physician clinics, many of which are multi-specialty. All 29 of USMD's primary care clinics have been accredited by the Patient-Centered Medical Home Program, a recognition program that is part of the National Committee for Quality Assurance. This recognition means that USMD's primary care clinics successfully display and utilize evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated patient care and long-term patient relationships. For more information about USMD, visit www.usmd.com.

About the Women's Choice Award

The Women's Choice Award sets the standard for helping women make smarter choices by collectively identifying the brands, products, and services most recommended and trusted by women - those that deliver a customer experience worthy of their recommendation. Awards are based on surveys of thousands of women, as well as research conducted in partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on what drives the consumer experience for women versus men. As the leading advocate for female consumers, WomenCertified Inc., home of the Women's Choice Award, created the first national award based on the ratings and preferences of women to provide them with a collective voice. Women can make their preferences heard and be part of the mission toward a million voices strong by visiting the Women's Choice Award's official website at http://www.womenschoiceaward.com/join-the-million/ and joining the network.